The Shipwright and the Archaeologist
by Abarero
Summary: A collection of stories focusing on the Franky/Robin pairing. Currently 3 stories uploaded
1. A Cherished History

Notes: This is my collection of stories focusing on Franky and Robin. I hope you enjoy!

**Title:** A Cherished History  
**Genre:** Romance/General  
**Rating:** G  
**Pairing:** Franky/Robin  
**Summary:** Robin wondered if all shipwrights were like this; so focused on achieving the perfect build that they wouldn't notice if someone entered the room and had been watching them all along.

* * *

The mountain of crumpled papers and blueprints were growing by the minute, Robin noted with a hint of curiosity in her eyes. It was a continuous stream of motion: the scratching of a pencil on the page, a few mutters and grumbles to himself, and after not too long, a punctuated sigh or growl in frustration as the paper was hastily crumpled or shredded and added to the growing pile in front of him. Robin wondered if all shipwrights were like this; so focused on achieving the perfect build that they wouldn't notice if someone entered the room and had been watching them all along. Her eyes glanced casually to the tuff of teal hair visible above the mountain of papers. He'd been working on it for at least an hour and she was quite interested in seeing how long it would take him to perfect it or give up.

It wasn't much longer before her wish was granted and he collapsed in resignation; papers flying everywhere as he flopped forward directly onto the pile of discarded scraps.

"I give up," He muttered to himself.

"So easily? I'm surprised."

Franky bolted upright at Robin's voice, his eyes glancing about wildly at the sound.

"Wha-who-when…when did you get here?"

She shrugged, "What's the blueprint for?"

He tensed and glanced away, a barely audible mutter escaping his lips, "A nose."

Robin blinked, obviously unfazed by the odd answer. "For you, I suppose?"

Franky nodded, clearing his throat nervously, "I…I think it got messed up during the battle. Don't you think it looks…_un_-super?"

Robin walked around to where he sat, seating herself on the table edge and crossing her legs. Tilting her head to one side, she stared. Franky winced, waiting to hear just _how_ stupid it looked. Much to his surprise, Robin reached out and cupped his chin in her hand as she leaned closer to observe.

"It looks the same to me. You've made it from a very strong metal from South Blue. Wootz steel, I believe it's called. Manufactured circa thirty-five years ago, it's one of the most durable metals from that period."

He smiled, somehow finding the archeological evaluation of his nose comforting.

"How'd you know all that?"

Robin leaned closer, her delicate fingers brushing over the bridge of his nose.

"You can see small shimmers of tungsten in it. Since the resources for tungsten are mostly depleted in this day and age, it had to be manufactured over twenty years ago. Historically, it's often used for weaponry due to its sharp edges."

"And you can tell all that just from looking at it?"

"That's what an archeologist does."

Franky smiled, "That's amazing. No, _super_ amazing."

"So is being able to build ships. Or well…noses, for that matter."

He chuckled at that, his large hands coming up from the table top to rub at his nose self-consciously. The room fell silent for a moment, not a sound but the gentle creaks of the ship as it moved through the water. Finally, Robin spoke up again.

"Don't change it."

"Huh?" Franky snapped his head up at the sudden statement.

"The blueprints," She indicated with a gesture, "You were feeling self-conscious about your nose, weren't you?"

The shipwright quickly turned away, shuffling his papers awkwardly. "It's…complicated."

"Trying to impress an intelligent woman tends to be complicated."

His eyes widened and he glanced back up to her. "What do you- I mean, why would you-"

Robin smiled, "Part of being an archeologist is playing a detective. And you've left some pretty obvious clues."

"Have I?" Franky muttered back gruffly, obviously trying to will down a rising blush in his cheeks.

"For a man who is as bold and brazen as you are, you're very compassionate. It's rather... cute."

Before he could retort that "cute" wasn't a manly, super word, she leaned forward and chastely kissed the tip of his nose. Without a single word, she uncrossed her legs, stood up from the table and sauntered over to the door. Once there, she paused a moment. Glancing over her shoulder, she remarked.

"If something has a cherished history, it's much harder to discard it."

And as her slim form disappeared out the doorway and around the corner, Franky couldn't agree more. Touching a finger to the place where she'd kissed him, he muttered, "Well…_that_ was super."

Scooping up all the blueprints for smaller, more "normal-shaped" noses, he deposited them in a nearby trash bin and decided to go up on deck with the others. There was certainly no way in hell he'd change his nose now.

* * *


	2. Umbrella

**Title:** Umbrella  
**Genre:** General/Romance  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Pairing:** Franky/Robin  
**Prompt:** _Franky/Robin with embarrassed Franky._

* * *

It was looking to be a horrible day. He'd not gotten much sleep since he was up late tinkering with a new secret weapon idea for channel four and then the rain hit. Actually, to call it simply "rain" was selling it short, Franky decided as he gripped tighter on the wheel. And from the carnage around them, this sudden hurricane type system had already taken out several ships in these waters. Oh yes, Franky thought to himself, delightfully _un_-super day.

Luckily for the Strawhat crew, Nami had picked up on the storm an hour before it hit the ship; the superb navigator noticing a few slight changes in the atmosphere that no one else would have ever thought twice about. And as the winds had started to pick up, they'd battened down the sails and switched on channel zero to put the ship into paddle-wheel mode.

But even with those foresights, the ship still needed steering through the large storm system and Franky had taken it upon himself to man the helm. Beside him, Robin helped by using her devil fruit powers to push floating debris away from the ship.

"Franky!" Nami's voice called out over the roar of thunder, "We should be clear of the system in fifteen minutes!"

"All right!" He called back. Glancing over at Robin to tell her that he could steer around what debris was left out there, his eyes strayed on noticing that her light-colored shirt was soaked through to the skin. Franky swore under his breath, knowing he had to be blushing on seeing the distinct outlines of Robin's bra showing through the material.

_"Damnit, Nico Robin. Why'd ya have to go and wear a light-colored shirt on today of all days?!"_ He inwardly cursed, realizing that any attempt now to speak to her would result in him making an embarrassed fool of himself. Not to mention that tiny black swimpants did not bode well in situations like this. Of course, Robin didn't seem to notice a thing and remained focused on her work with the large pieces of the decimated ship they were floating through.

Franky scrunched his eyes closed, trying very hard to block the image of Robin's dark bra clearly visible through the fabric from his mind. He was not someone that most people would consider easily flustered, especially given his knack of shamelessly running around in little more than a scrap of black fabric and a tacky shirt, but Franky knew that his feelings for the crew's archaeologist had turned him into a weak-willed blushing sailor boy.

_Achoo!_ Robin's quiet sneeze caused him to snap back to attention. His mind first registering that she was even more soaked and henceforth even more skin and bra were showing, but his second thought overrode it.

"Oi, you're going to get sick if you keep this up," he muttered.

Robin turned to him, a quaint little smile quirking at her lips, "I'm sure our wonderful doctor can handle a small cold if I happen to catch one; but as for you, you're already pushing your limit alone."

"It's-It's really not necessary."

"I'm just glad to help," she replied, saying it so genuinely that Franky really couldn't argue.

Okay, so he'd been working the whole day and was dead tired from a late night- he was a cyborg and he could handle steering a ship through a storm; even if this storm was definitely trying to give Aqua Laguna a run for its money in terms of nastiness. And he knew that Robin was one tough woman- he'd give her that- but that didn't mean being soaked to the bone would be a healthy idea.

It fell quiet between the two of them as Franky grumbled to himself- cursing light-colored shirts, dark-colored bras and far too attractive black-haired women who wore them. Finally, he mustered up some courage and gripped the wheel firmly with his right hand.

"Franky, what are you..." Robin's voice cut off as she looked up at him.

Franky was blushing and he had a completely nervous and awkward smile crinkling up the corners of his mouth. And even though he was sopping wet- Robin couldn't find anything more attractive than him at that very moment as he held out his large left hand over her head like a makeshift umbrella.

"Don'twantyougettingsick," Franky mumbled, furiously blushing as he did so.

Robin just smiled, clearly touched by the man's gesture. "Thank you," she murmured, "But I'd rather not see you fall ill either; I do enjoy your company so."

And before Franky could ask what she meant, he felt the hands sprout from around his neck and curve up over his head like a hood. His eyes glanced up at them, then he shifted his gaze to Robin. Feeling rather stupidly giddy that she cared about him so, he grinned like an idiot.

"You're super, Nico Robin. Just damn super- you know that?"

He was so proud that he'd managed to say something borderline cool that he didn't notice, until he felt her press against his side, that Robin had moved.

"And so are you, Franky. Just super, that's you."

Tucking herself neatly under his arm, she rearranged the arms behind them into a large umbrella that Franky figured probably contained fifty or more hands sprouted by her power.

"Let's take care of this storm, shall we?"

Franky grinned, "I'm having a _super_ week, so some measly hurricane shouldn't be a problem for us at all."

The two shared a smile then before turning their attentions back to weathering the last of the storm system. All in all, Franky decided, it was looking to be a fantastic day.

* * *


	3. Blueprints

**Title:** Blueprints  
**Genre:** Romance  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Pairing:** Franky/Robin  
**Summary:** Clearly blueprints are something to be discussed in private.

* * *

He had gone over it a thousand times. He'd checked. He'd doubled checked. He'd triple checked. And each and every time the answer came up just a small bit off. Glaring down at the blueprint littered with his cramped handwriting, Franky searched diligently for the source of the miscalculation.

Growing increasingly frustrated, Franky left his desk and peered into Usopp's factory across the hallway.

"Oi, could you help me with something?"

Two heads turned at his voice. Usopp pushed his goggles back on his forehead and sat down the dial he was tinkering with. Next to him, Robin glanced up from a book written in cryptic text in her lap.

"Which one of us did you want?" Robin inquired, her eyes raking up Franky's form as she suppressed a laugh.

It was clear to both Robin and Usopp that Franky had pulled an all-nighter on his latest project. Dark circles haunted his eyes, his hair drooped a bit and it seemed he had foregone his shirt hours before. Rubbing his eyes, he answered Robin's question.

"I'll take what help I can get, if you're not busy."

Robin smiled. "We were just comparing Skypiean dials to this image in an ancient text. History won't be going anywhere."

"Whatcha need help with, Franky?" Usopp asked, setting his dial aside.

Franky nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Uh…just come and see."

The trio climbed the stairs out of Usopp's main factory and down the stairs into Franky's workshop. As they entered, Franky hastily started shoving aside empty cola bottles and plates littered with crumbs. Casting a sheepish look towards Robin, he mumbled, "Sorry for the mess."

Usopp snorted, "It's always like this."

Franky glared at him.

"So what seems to be the problem?" Robin asked, looking down at the blueprint.

Behind her, Franky shoved a pile of trash behind his tool barrel. Usopp shook his head. It was no secret to him that Franky was trying to impress Robin. Considering some of his previous attempts to catch her attention, feigning a clean work space was practically normal.

Noticing Robin standing over his blueprint, Franky walked up beside her and gestured to Usopp to do the same. As they all crowded around it, Franky pointed to the part of the sketch with the discrepancy.

"It's this here. I swore I had the dimensions perfect, but now I can't get it to calculate correctly. As it is, the projectile won't go more than a meter or so due to lack of proper tension."

"What is it?" Usopp queried.

Franky grinned as if he was hoping someone would ask. "It's the Super Battle Franky Ballista! Like a giant crossbow, this would allow us to launch iron tipped projectiles at any approaching ship. I plan on making it of the finest North Sea wood and using wootz steel for the joints holding the framework together. The ropes here would be made of the best quality sea king sinew. It'll be so super when it's up and working. When the ropes twist, it creates tension that is held back by this winch. Then, the wheels will allow us to maneuver it on the deck and aim and fire! It goes over 500 meters easily and oh she'll be wonderful for dealing with any Marines that dare cross this ship's path. Strong and formidable, flexible and deadly, and she'll always be the perfect shot, I can tell already."

Robin cleared her throat. "Should we leave you and your blueprint alone?"

Usopp chuckled as Franky flushed in embarrassment.

"I'm just- really proud of it, that's all."

"The Greco-Roman culture made something like this once," Robin noted, leaning down further over the designs.

Franky's eyebrows shot up, obviously a bit miffed that some ancient guys had beaten him to this idea. "Oh really?"

He sidled up next to her, his eyes clearly asking her to prove it.

She smirked, tracing a finger slowly down the edge of the frame. "It started out as a combination of a cross-bow and a bolt-shooter. As you can see by the basic design here, it's basically a larger scale version of that."

Franky leaned in closer, his shoulder brushing against hers as he pointed to his design's wheels. "Oh but did they think of these?"

"Of course. They were mounted on carts and wheeled around the battlefield much like you plan to wheel this one across the deck."

Franky huffed and reached an arm around Robin to point out the spring system. "Well I bet they didn't have the torsion springs like this!"

"Actually, your torsion springs are shorter than …" Her sentence trailed off as she turned around directly into Franky's bare chest. The two of them froze, suddenly acknowledging just how close they were.

Usopp cleared his throat and spoke up, his tone clearly amused. "Perhaps I should leave _both_ of you alone with the blueprint. Don't worry; I'll make sure to close the door as I go out."

Neither of them could muster up a reply as they watched him leave, chuckling to himself. As the door snapped closed behind Usopp, Franky gulped and looked down at Robin. Her slender form was pressed between his chest and the drawing table, his arms settled on either side of her.

"I…err… it's gotten a bit hot in here. Furnace must be up too high."

An unreadable smirk quirked at Robin's lips as her hand reached up and grasped a drooping lock of teal hair. "It's a wonderful weapon," she intoned, tucking the hair behind Franky's ear. "Very powerful."

Franky could feel his heart hammering in his chest and sorely wished his cyborg body didn't resonate sound so well.

"But if you keep overworking yourself, then you're no better than the Greco-Romans."

"What, you worried about me?" The gruff words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Robin smiled, resting a hand on his cheek. "You could say that."

"I can manage it. I'm used to pulling all-nighters on projects."

"Ah. But it would be a shame if you were," she trailed her hand down his neck and traced a small circle on his chest, "too tired for anything else."

Franky's eyes widened, and he willed down a blush. "W-what other things did you have in mind?"

"Oh," a smirk crept onto her lips, "Something."

"Ah."

The two lapsed into silence, save for the sound of the waves against the ship, until Franky tentatively moved his hand from the drawing table to Robin's hip.

"So uh, whatcha doing after dinner tonight?"

"Having a date with you, I believe."

Franky grinned, his confidence swelling back up. "Right so you'll be here at…?"

"At eight," Robin replied, reaching up to tuck another drooping hair behind his ear. "But you might want to rest up before then."

She started to pull away and head towards the door when Franky called out, "Robin, wait!"

He grabbed her wrist and the momentum of his movement pulled her back against his chest.

"Yes?" She asked breathlessly, the shock of his sudden action just starting to wear off.

"You forgot something."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"This," he breathed, gently cupping her chin and bringing his lips crashing down against hers.

Kissing him fiercely in return, Robin sprouted hands from the cabinet behind them; her extra hands gripping him on the shoulders and pulling him back against it. He chuckled as they broke the kiss, a lopsided grin on his face.

"Something funny?" She questioned, leaning fully against him now.

"Just thinking."

Robin pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "About?"

"Just thinking that…" his eyes drifted to her loose shirt front, "that…"

He gave up any attempt to continue his sentence, foregoing all speaking in favor of kissing Robin again. She didn't seem to mind, slipping her tongue into his mouth and deepening the kiss. He tasted vaguely of metal and cola, she of the raspberry tea he'd seen her drink that morning; with that both of them instantly developed a fondness for the other drink.

As they parted breathlessly moments later, Robin asked, "What... were you saying?"

"I thought..." he leaned his forehead down to rest against hers, "that we were waiting 'til later. For..." Franky reluctantly removed his hand from her hair to gesture at their current positions, "For all this."

Robin laughed, her fingers trailing down his chest to snap the elastic waistband on Franky's swim trunks. "Pre-lunch dessert," she quipped.

And sure enough, a moment later they could hear Sanji calling out to the crew that it was lunch time. Pressing a quick kiss to the tip of Franky's nose, Robin pulled back.

"It should be five rather than fifteen," she said casually as she passed the blueprint on the drawing table.

She left him pinned against the wall until she reached the door; her extra hands disappearing as she sauntered out. Franky hastily gave chase, coming to a halt in his doorway.

Robin stood at the base of the ladder up to the deck, shot him a meaningful look as she straightened her blouse, and then nodded towards the door across the hall.

Sure enough, Usopp was smirking knowingly out of his factory door.

"So...blueprints, huh?"

Franky grinned at him, his eyes flickering away to watch Robin ascend the ladder.

"Oooh yeah. Blueprints are super."

* * *


End file.
